Atmel CAMELIA 8M User manual

1
Main Features
•High Sensitivity Full Frame CCD Sensor
•2048 x 2048 Resolution with 14 µm Square Pixels
•100% Aperture Pixels
•12-bit Dynamic Range
•Very Low Noise: 66 dB SNR
•Binning Modes
•LVDS Data Format
•High Data Rate: 20 Mpixels/s
•Flexible and Easy to Operate via RS-232 Control
– Trigger Mode: Free Run or External Trigger Modes
– Binning 2 x 2 and 4 x 4
– Exposure Time
– Gain: x1 to x8
– 3-Shot Color Operation
•Single Power Supply: DC 24V
•High Reliability – CE Compliant
•F (Nikon) Mount Adapter (Lens Not Supplied)
Product Description
This camera is designed to meet high performance and quality requirements while
providing ease of use.
• ATMEL manages the entire manufacturing process, from the sensor to the
camera. The result is a camera that works in 12 bits, with dedicated electronics
that provide an excellent signal to noise ratio.
• The sensitivity of the camera is fairly high even in the near infrared spectrum
thanks to the 100% aperture pixel.
• The programmable settings let the user work at different integration times and
gains. The external trigger enables synchronization of the camera on an external
event, while the 3-shot color mode allows very high resolution for color image
acquisition.
Applications
Performance and reliability of this camera make it well suited for the most demanding
applications such as film and document scanning, semiconductor and PCB inspec-
tion, DNA analysis, metrology or X-ray imaging.
CAMELIA 4M
Full Frame Black
and White and
3-Shot Color
Digital Camera
Rev. 5301C–IMAGE–03/04

2CAMELIA 4M Digital Camera 5301C–IMAGE–03/04
Camelia Package
Contents Depending on the selected configuration, a Camelia package may include:
• Camelia camera
• FGT frame grabber board
• Power supply cable and RS-232 cable
• Data and sync cable
• COMMCAM software
• FGT software
• Documentation
System
Requirements • 24V (0.6A) power supply
•Computer:
– Minimal configuration:
Intel®Pentium®II 350 MHz
RAM: 128 Mb, 256 Mb for 3-shot color mode
Cache memory: 256 Kb
1 free PCI slot
– Operating system:
Windows®NT 4.0
Windows®95b, 98
• NIKON lens
• Lighting control (shutter/chopper or pulsed lighting)
Getting Started 1. Connect the camera to one of the computer’s serial ports (COM1 or COM2) with
the RS-232 cable.
2. Switch on the camera.
3. Install the COMMCAM software on your computer (refer to the “COMMCAM
User Guide”).
4. Install the FGT frame grabber board and the FGT software on your computer
(see the “FGT Frame Grabber User Guide”).
5. Run the system.

3
CAMELIA 4M Digital Camera
5301C–IMAGE–03/04
Description of Imaging System
Figure 1. Imaging System
The Camelia 4M is powered by a 24V power supply and is configured through the serial
port of the computer. The camera sends digital video to the FGT frame grabber.
As the Camelia's CCD is a full frame sensor, either pulsed lighting or a chopper/shutter
must be used in front of the camera during the integration time in order to obtain incident
lighting on the CCD. The user must design an electro-optical interface to drive the cam-
era, shutter/chopper or lighting by using the SHUTTER signal delivered by the camera.
If required, the system can send an external trigger or external ITC (integration time
control) signal to the camera.
Light Source
Light &
Shutter
Trigger
Cables
Lens Shutter
& BG38
Camera Power Supply Cable 24V
RS-232
Cable
Data &
Sync
Cable
Control Box
Computer
FGT
Frame Grabber

4CAMELIA 4M Digital Camera 5301C–IMAGE–03/04
Camelia 4M Camera
CCD Description • Image format: 28.7 mm (V) x 28.7 mm (H)
• 2048 mm (V) x 2048 mm (H) active pixels
• Readout register along the small side of the image area (vertical image)
• Pixel geometry:
– 14 µm (V) x 14 µm (H)
– 100% aperture ratio
• Antiblooming by clocking
Timing 2 x 2 and 4 x 4 pixel binning can be used to enable previewing modes.
Data rate (pixel clock): 20 MHz
Three timing modes are available:
• Continuous
• External triggered
• Integration time controlled (ITC)
Continuous Timing Mode The camera delivers frames continuously:
• Frame N+1 integration starts as soon as frame N readout is completed.
• The integration time is set by the RS-232 interface.
Figure 2. Continuous Timing Diagram
Table 1. Frame Readout Times
Mode Frame Readout Times
No binning 235 ms
2 x 2 pixel binning 125 ms
4 x 4 pixel binning 70 ms
3
2048 pixels
Int. time set by RS-232
FEN
LEN
Video lines
2 1
2048 2047 2046
SHUTTER
Frame
integration Shutter delay Frame readout 2 ms

5
CAMELIA 4M Digital Camera
5301C–IMAGE–03/04
External Trigger Timing Mode The external TRIG signal allows the user to control the start of frame integration:
• The rising edge of TRIG activates the start of frame integration. This rising edge is
synchronized by the camera with a precision of 112 µs.
• The integration time is set by the RS-232 interface.
• Note that the TRIG signal period must be greater than the sum of the integration
time and the frame readout time.
Figure 3. External Trigger Timing Diagram
Integration Time Control (ITC)
Timing Mode The external ITC signal allows the user to fully control the frame integration:
• The falling edge of ITC activates the start of frame integration. This falling edge is
synchronized by the camera with a precision of 112 µs.
• The rising edge of ITC activates the stop of frame integration. This rising edge is
synchronized by the camera with a precision of 112 µs.
• Note that the ITC signal period must be greater than the sum of the integration time
(defined by ITC low) and the frame readout time.
Figure 4. Integration Time Control Timing Diagram
Antiblooming by
Clocking Antiblooming can be activated or inhibited (see “RS-232 Interface” on page 8):
• Antiblooming OFF: antiblooming inhibited. Recommended if antiblooming is not
required for the application.
• Antiblooming ON: antiblooming activated.
3
2048 pixels
Video lines
2 1
2048 2047 2046
Int. time set by RS-232
Frame
integration Shutter delay Frame readout
LEN
FEN
TRIG
Waiting
SHUTTER
3
2048 pixels
Video lines
2 1
2048 2047 2046
Frame
integration Shutter delay Frame readout
Waiting
LEN
SHUTTER
FEN
ITC

6CAMELIA 4M Digital Camera 5301C–IMAGE–03/04
3-Shot Color Modes In 3-shot color mode, each image is made of three frames: red, green and blue.
• The camera must be operated in either external trigger mode or integration time
control mode.
• For each image, the user selects the color of the next frame by setting the input
signals COLOUR_I1 and COLOUR_I2 (see Table 2). COLOUR_I1, _I2 must be
valid between the rising edge of the TRIG signal (or the falling edge of the ITC
signal) and the falling edge of the SHUTTER signal (see Figure 5).
• The integration time can be adjusted differently for each color, resulting in a better
signal to noise ratio for the color with the lowest sensitivity (i.e the blue).
• Each frame requires a TRIG_ITC signal.
• The camera synchronizes COLOUR_I1, _I2 with the rest of the timing and sends
COLOUR_O1, _O2 to the FGT frame grabber.
Figure 5. Color Timing Diagram
Electrical Interfaces
Power Supply
Table 2. Color definition
COLOUR_I2 COLOUR_I1 Frame Color
00Red
0 1 Green
10Blue
Frame 00
(red) Frame 01 (green) Frame 10 (blue)
00 01
COLOUR_I
COLOUR_O
FEN
> 0 > 0
SHUTTER
00
> 0
Red
integration
time
TRIG
Green
integration
time
10
01
> 0 > 0
10
> 0
Blue
integration
time
Table 3. Power Supply Specifications
Parameter Nominal Value Min Value Max Value
Voltage 24V 20V 28V
Current 0.75A N/A N/A

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CAMELIA 4M Digital Camera
5301C–IMAGE–03/04
Digital I/O
Note: 1. LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signal) is an EI- 644 standard.
LVDS drivers/receivers:
• LVDS: all digital I/Os are differential: (signal+, signal-). Specifications are given for
signal +.
• Manufacturer National Semiconductor®.
• Driver: DS90C031TM (SO16 package)
• Receiver: DS90C032TM (SO16 package).
Table 4. Digital I/O Specifications
Symbol I/O Definition Level
TRIG_ITC I
Timing control:
- TRIG_ITC is either an external trigger or ITC
(integration time control) depending on the timing
mode configured via RS-232.
Operation with external trigger:
- TRIG_ITC = TRIG
Operation with ITC:
- TRIG_ITC = ITC
- TRIG_ITC is synchronized by the camera line clock
(jitter: 112 µs)
LVDS(1)
S(11..0) O Digital video output: 12 bits LVDS
FEN O Frame enable: - FEN = 0: frame data valid: active lines
- FEN = 1: frame data not valid LVDS
LEN O Line enable: - LEN = 0: line data valid: active pixels
- LEN = 1: line data not valid LVDS
PCK O Pixel clock LVDS
SHUTTER O
Shutter open/close:
- during integration: SHUTTER = 1
- during readout: SHUTTER = 0
Delay between the falling edge of SHUTTER and the
start of readout:
- 4 positions: 1, 5, 10 or 20 ms (set via RS-232).
LVDS
COLOUR_I(1..0) I
Color selection of the next frame (in color mode):
- 00: red
- 01: green
- 10: blue
LVDS
COLOUR_O(1..0) O
Color identification of the current frame (in color mode):
- 00: red
- 01: green
- 10: blue.
LVDS

8CAMELIA 4M Digital Camera 5301C–IMAGE–03/04
RS-232 Interface The camera’s configuration is set by the RS-232 interface. Table 5 lists the available
features:
Note: 1. The video signal processing gain of the camera can be adjusted by setting either the
CDS or camera gain.
CDS gain: a 1x or 4x gain is available at the input of the video signal processing. Use
of the 4x gain is recommended for low level applications as it results in lower noise.
Camera gain: a range of 1x to 2x is available in 16 steps.
Table 5. RS-232 Specifications
Function RS-232 Configuration Comment
Timing mode
3 modes:
- continuous (free running)
- external trigger
- external ITC
Binning
3 modes:
- no binning
- 2 x 2 pixel binning
- 4 x 4 pixel binning
Image size: 2048 (H) x 2048 (V)
Image size: 1024 (H) x 1024 (V)
Image size: 512 (H) x 512 (V)
CDS gain(1) 2 positions:
- G = 1
- G = 4
G = 4 is recommended for
applications requiring high
sensitivity
Camera gain(1) Camera gain value from 1.00x to
2.00x in 16 steps
Shutter 2 modes:
- active
- inactive (always open)
Shutter delay
4 positions:
- 1 ms
- 5 ms
- 10 ms
- 20 ms
Antiblooming
control
2 modes:
- active
- inactive
Black and white/
color mode
2 modes:
- black and white
- 3-shot color
Black and white
integration time
Value must be in milliseconds
Range: 1 to 2000 ms; active only in
black and white mode
Must be an integer (e.g. 120 for
120 ms, 120.4 is not permitted)
Red/Green/Blue
integration time
Value must be in milliseconds
Range: 1 to 2000 ms; active only in
3-shot color mode
Must be an integer (e.g. 120 for
120 ms, 120.4 is not permitted)

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CAMELIA 4M Digital Camera
5301C–IMAGE–03/04
Electro-optical
Performance Conditions:
• Frame integration time: 40 ms
• Operating ambient temperature: 25°C
Notes: 1. LSB (Least Significant Bit): 12-bit = 4095 LSB or gray levels
2. Full-scale value VPE: maximum digital video signal
3. Temporal noise VN: r.m.s value in darkness; measured by subtracting two images
pixel to pixel
4. Dark signal non uniformity: r.m.s value; excludes blemishes
5. Dynamic range DY = VPE/VN
6. Responsivity conditions: CDS gain = 1x, 3200K, light source powered between 300
and 1000 nm, measured on the sensor
7. Resolution conditions: light source 3200K, BG38 2 mm, measured at
VIDEO = 2000 LSB, CDS gain = 1x
Figure 6. Camelia 4M Spectral Responsivity
Table 6. Electro-optical Performance
Parameter Symbol Typical Value Unit
Full-scale value(2) VPE 4095 LSB(1)
Temporal noise(3) VN 2 LSB
Dark signal non-uniformity(4) DSNU 5 LSB
Dynamic range(5) DY 2048 –
Responsivity(6) R 35 LSB/(nJ/cm2)
Resolution(7)
Horizontal Contrast Transfer function at Nyquist
Vertical Contrast Transfer function at Nyquist
CTFh
CTFv
40%
40%
–
–
0
20
40
60
Responsivity (LSB/nJ/cm2)
400 450 500 550 600 650 700
Wavelength (nm)
750 800 850 900 950 1000
Note: nJ/cm2measured on the CCD chip.

10 CAMELIA 4M Digital Camera 5301C–IMAGE–03/04
Image Grade
Operating conditions • Room temperature: 20°C
• Integration time in darkness: 100 ms
• Light source: Halogen 3200K with BG38 (2 mm thick) IR cut-off with f/4 aperture
• Test under illumination at 50% saturation level
Definitions A column defect is a one-pixel-wide column with more than 7 defective pixels. The col-
umn's height is constant with the light level.
Z1 is a square area whose size is 0.5 (H) x 0.5 (V) [1024 pixels (H), 1024 pixels (V)] cen-
tered in the image zone. Z2 corresponds to the rest of the image zone.
α is the contrast of the defect measured as a percentage under light and in ADU in
darkness.
ADU: 12 bits correspond to 4096 ADUs.
Table 7. Specifications in Darkness
Type Z1 Z1 + Z2
White defects in
darkness Defects at 50% VSAT White defects in
darkness Defects at 50% VSAT
Blemish threshold α> 80 ADU [α] > 20% α> 80 ADU [α]> 20%
Maximum number of pixels
affected by blemishes
Area maximum (in pixels)
600
5 x 5
2000
5 x 5
Column threshold α> 5 ADU [α] > 10% α> 5 ADU [α] > 10%
Maximum number of column
defects 3 101040